The Journey's End
by The Old Sumi-chan
Summary: Time has worn on. And with time, all things must end. After the deaths of all of her loved ones, Sakura decides it is time to release her soul, and pass the role of CardCaptor to someone else... Yue's POV, Tear-jerker.


**A Journey's End**

I stepped quietly through the halls of the Li household.This large manor, right it the middle of Hong Kong, and yet away from it all.It seemed so much like the old manor that Cerberus, Clow, and I had lived in so very long ago.But on this day, the old style house brought me no comfort.The Mistress wanted to speak to me.She had asked that I come to the garden.She said it was important, and she asked I not tell her son or daughter.This alone gave me reason to worry.She had never once wished her children not be informed of something.However I shouldn't have been surprised.She seemed to have taken such a drastic change in the last week… 

I pushed open the large double doors leading to the marvelous garden outside the manor.Peonies were planted by the thousands, along with cherry trees, nadeshiko blossoms, and various wild flowers growing everywhere.Cherry trees for her, Peonies for Xiaolang and their son, and Nadeshiko blossoms for her daughter and deceased mother, who both bore the same name. 

I saw my Mistress sitting on a stone bench, among a large group of pink peonies, with a cherry tree looming over her, burst in full bloom, showering down petals in the light spring breeze.The Mistress…I need to stop calling her that.She long ago asked me to call her Sakura.She reasoned that, just as I had called my Master "Clow", I should call her by her name as well.Still, in my mind, I thought of her as "Mistress." 

I noticed she reached her slim finger down, and plucked a single peony from the bunch.I thought she perhaps hadn't seen me.I was wrong. 

"These were Syaoran's favorite, Yue-san." 

And then her eyes turned to me.Her face was worn with 'laugh lines' as she called them.And she had had enough laughs in her years that the claim could have been entirely true.Her short hair wasn't a dull gray or silver, but a beautiful white.Her eyes, however, maintained their youthful beauty and sparkle through the decades. 

"I… can't live without him," She mumbled. 

Only now did I see Cerberus as her side, as she silently stroked his fur.She cradled the delicate flower to her face.I stepped slowly closer to her, and took a seat beside her.I wasn't used to being the one to try and comfort her.After the death of her brother, my False Form had more or less curled up inside himself, and refused to show.So, I was left as Yue.I had no "other side". I was just… Yue.Her fragile frame trembled once, as she placed the peony behind Cerberus's ear. 

"Sakura… it will get better." 

She sniffled.I knew the tears wouldn't be far behind.She had cried almost every day for a week straight.And just when it seemed the tears were all dried up, they would come again.I sat beside her. 

"No… Yue-san.I feel like I'm only half a person now…" she lifted her eyes to meet mine. 

"When Rika-chan died after her son was born, we were all shocked.But… we all got better.And we all grew old… then Otou-san left Onii-chan and I. Just… one heart beat skipped…" 

She paused.It seemed to pain her, even speaking of her deceased father, and her brother. 

"And then Onii-chan… he… just… slipped away. He couldn't fight the disease eating away at him.He was… one day there, the next day gone…" 

I could see the tears start to flow again. Cerberus lifted his front legs onto the stone bench, and nuzzled Sakura's face.She cupped his head in her hands, and kept him close, 

"And then Chiharu-chan and Yamazaki-kun were killed in that car crash two years ago… and Naoko-chan…" she sniffled, "She went peacefully, I know…" 

She swallowed, and paused.I think she was trying to collect her thoughts. "Tomoyo-chan… she died of a broken heart without Eriol-kun…" 

She looked down. "Eriol let himself go.Just… decided it was his time." 

"And Syaoran…" She choked on his name, "He couldn't fight off the Cancer, tearing him apart from the inside.He said he didn't want to leave me, and I know it was true… demo… Demo…" 

More tears flowed down her face. I reached a hand, and wiped them away, as both Cerberus and I sat…listening to our distraught Mistress. "I can't go on without him Yue-san… Kero-chan… He was so much a part of me… He was what kept me going after all of it." 

"Mistress… I…" 

"I don't want to live without them.He, and Tomoyo-chan, and Eriol-kun… Onii-chan and Otou-san, and Chiharu-tachi… They're all together, and I'm alone.I know they didn't mean to leave me… demo…" 

"What about Nadeshiko?And Kaoru?" Cerberus asked, referencing the Mistresses two children. 

"They're both adults now… with family's of their own." She smiled sadly, "They would understand…" 

She turned away from both of us, and reached for something.I was quite surprised as she lifted from behind the bench, the pink and gold book, marked with her name.She smiled sadly. 

"I wished to speak to both of you… because…" she looked between us both. 

"I have chosen… The next Card Captor." 

I was shocked.It was not so much the statement itself, but what it implied.If a cardcaptor had been chosen, it could only mean one thing. 

"Sakura!" Cerberus exclaimed in surprise before I could speak.He nudged her arm. 

"Don't think so rashly, mistress."I couldn't help but slip back into my old habits, "You… It'll all be alright, you just need time, I'm sure…" 

"Time has given me approval." She smiled at me, twisting my words. 

"Sakura, please reconsider." Cerberus pleaded with her. 

"Kero-chan…" She looked to the large Lion, and stroked his head, "Would you want me to keep living… being this unhappy?" 

I was almost mad at her.She was doing exactly what Clow had done thousands of years before.Sent us on to a new Master… It felt the same… all over again. 

She unhooked the latch on the book, and pulled out the stack.Holding them in the palm of her hand, she allowed the cards to float up, and circle her, as they had done many times before. 

"My friends… I wish to bid you all a good farewell. Speak as you wish." 

Cerberus and I both backed away slowly.Slowly, all the cards dropped away again, back into the book, except seven.Windy, Watery, Firey, Earthy, Light, Dark… And Hope.All seven cards glowed, and slowly formed into their full sizes. Light and dark, hand in hand, both moved towards her.Light ran her hand over Sakura's face, while dark planted a kiss on the woman's forehead. 

"You have done well, Mistress." Light smiled sadly. 

"We trust you in your decisions." Dark added. 

Sakura held out her hand. "Arigatou Light-san. Dark-san." She closed her eyes, "Now return, and except thy seal once more. Light! Dark!" 

Both spirits smiled one last time as they were pulled from each other, and formed back into two pink cards resting in Sakura's palm.I watched, as the four elements stepped to her.Watery smiled and Earthy embraced her.Firey smiled. 

"Thank you for being good to us."The young boy spoke. 

Windy, was the last.The whimsical looking woman embraced Sakura, her magic blowing the fine locks of her white air back from her face.Windy kissed her cheek, and stood back among the other three.Sakura wiped her eyes. 

"Return, and accept thy seal once more. Earthy… Firey… Watery… Windy." 

With the sound of their names, each being glowed, and slowly formed back into the large cards. Only one remained now… 

The young child with the wings in her hair slowly stepped towards Sakura.Hope was Sakura's last card… Sakura opened her arms, knowing exactly what hope would want.And she had been right, as Hope leaned into Sakura's embrace. 

"I will miss you mistress…" the girl's tiny voice floated out, "I was so lonely until you found me.You gave me back my friends. Arigatou." 

Sakura looked into the face of the card.She held her palm face up. "I'm sure your new master will care for you in the same way… now, return and accept thy seal once more. Hope." 

With a simple wave of her hand, hope vanished into the pink card, once again holding a winged heart close to her.I could see tears form once again in the Mistresses eyes. 

"Because of how much I wanted Syaoran not to leave… My heart card was formed… and it saved my most cherished feeling from being taken from me." 

I watched her hands… They were steady, as she assembled the deck of cards, and laid them into the book. I took a step closer again.I knew, now it would only be moments… 

Slowly, she closed the book.The moments were ticking away, and all I could do was stare, as Cerberus approached her, so willing now, though he had been reluctant only moments before.It was like an eternal sense of de ja vu.She ran her hand over the top of Cerberus's head one last time. 

"Sayonara… Kero-chan. I will always remember you." 

He smiled, though only for her. "Sayonara." 

Cerberus closed his eyes, and formed into a golden light.His form disappeared, and once again formed the lion crest on the front of the book.The chain with the large sun medallion appeared once again.And then she lifted her gaze to me.Her face so old, but now, it seemed to be shining with that youthful charm of the 10-year-old child that stumbled upon the sacred book of Clow, released the cards… and captured them all again. 

"Yue-san…" she called me back to reality. 

Slowly, she rose from her seat, the book in hand.She knew… She could tell how I felt, I just knew it.I almost expected the tiny woman to demand I accept the seal. 

Instead, I heard the book hit the ground, and in the next instant, felt her frail arms wrapped around me.I jumped at first. She laid her head on my shoulder. 

"I know… You hated loosing Clow-san.I don't want to make you feel sad again, Yue-san." 

I choked.This was a sign.She was changing again.She sounded like a child.As if 10-year-old Kinomoto Sakura had possessed her body, and already let the older soul fly free. And then she pulled back.She looked up at me, with those sparkling eyes… and smiled. 

"Daijobou.Everything will be alright." She said. 

It had been her ever-present mantra, even as her life wore on.I knew she wasn't speaking of her own life that was soon to end… but of mine, which would go on for all eternity.I felt my muscles relax as she pulled away.I looked down at the book she had dropped on the ground.It almost felt worse leaving her than I had with Clow.I had watched her grow up.Mature… have children… I had been so lost in thought, I didn't notice she had bent down, and retrieved the book.But even…in all my selfish thoughts I knew.I had to let her go.I had to give her this one last wish. 

"Be well, Mistress." I addressed her, and she sent me a warning look. 

I felt my lips curl slightly. "Sakura." I corrected myself. 

And I closed my eyes, feeling every muscle in my body relax, my wings wrapping around the rest of my body in a capsule.I felt as it I was freed from my physical body as the seal was placed once again… 

But I could still see her.I have no idea how, but I could.I watched as she hugged the book against her chest and backed up against the cherry tree.She paused, watching the blossoms swirl in the light breeze.She lay down under the tree, petals landing on her face.She lifted one hand, and a single freed blossom fell into the cup of her hand.I saw a single smile part her lips.The first genuine smile I had scene in so long. 

And then I saw something that I wasn't sure even she saw.A spirit, hovering over her.The spirit, was a young man… with what appeared to have once been rough, tangled hair, and amber colored eyes.Sakura looked straight upward, and I knew in that instant she had seen it.He brushed a hand across her face, and leaned down so that his face was close to hers. 

She closed her eyes, and let the wind carry the blossoms from her hand.Both arms encircled the book of Sakura, and she closed her eyes.I watched as her glowing pink aura faded, intertangling with the spirit above her body.And then, both astral forms vanished.And with her dying breath, I heard her last words, just before the world around me went black.Her ever-present Mantra… 

"Daijobou… Everything will be alright…" 

- O W A R I -

Authors Notes: I was tired of seeing all those stories where Sakura died or was killed at a young age. I believed she would have a death that she chose. This is a short story, but I've thought of doing a follow-up story that actually follows through with the quest of the new card captor. What would YOU like to see? If I get 30 reviews asking for a series of this new cardcaptor, I'll do it! ^ ^


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